Trees at more than 2,000 homes in a California city will be stripped of their fruit, according to a state agency.
The “large-scale fruit removal,” which is slated to begin in late January, is set for a designated area in Redlands in San Bernardino County, the California Department of Food and Agriculture said in a Jan. 18 news release.
The reason?
An “invasive” insect, according to the agency.
“If left unchecked, the Oriental fruit fly could become permanently established and cause billions of dollars worth of losses annually, which would significantly impact California’s food supply,” the agency said.
By stripping the fruit trees, the agency said it hopes to “break the lifecycle of the invasive fly.”
The fly “lays eggs in fruit that develop into larvae,” which threatens citrus and more than 230 crops, like “nuts, vegetables and berries,” the agency said.
